The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

After spending the summer away from each other, Titus and Iolanthe (still disguised as Archer Fairfax) are eager to return to Eton College to resume their training to fight the Bane. Although no longer bound to Titus by a blood oath, Iolanthe is more committed than ever to fulfilling her destiny—especially with the agents of Atlantis quickly closing in.

Soon after arriving at school, though, Titus makes a shocking discovery, one that makes him question everything he previously believed about their mission. Faced with this devastating realization, Iolanthe is forced to come to terms with her new role, while Titus must choose between following his mother's prophecies—and forging a divergent path to an unknowable future.

If you are a fan of young adult fantasy and have not read The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas yet, I urge you to run, not walk, to your nearest bookstore or better yet purchase a copy for your ereader and get reading. The Perilous Sea is the second in Thomas’s Elemental Trilogy and demands to be read. No, seriously it does. Like, it came in my mail and usually things that come in my mail that are not from Amazon Vine just kind of sit for awhile until I can get to it. This book sat for like 3 weeks and then the cover kept jumping out at me and I kept remembering how captivated I was by The Burning Sky, so I was like OKAY BOOK I WILL READ YOU and then send you on to an awesome blogger who is also desperate to read you. Reader friends, my copy is 415 pages long and I read it in the breathless span of one day, minus 8 pages that I started the previous day. IT IS THAT GOOD.

Stop your engine right this second if you have not read The Burning Sky because I will spoilers the hell out of it and that’s not on purpose but because there is no way I can talk about The Perilous Sea without talking about events of The Burning Sky and because some people really seem to hate spoilers, you should just consider this your warning my friend. The second book opens up and Iolanthe is kind of wandering through the Sahara Desert. She has no idea why she is there. She does not even know her name. She just woke up and was there with absolutely no memories. She stumbles across a boy in a dome and is all let me in, there’s drones out here, and agents of Atlantis and if you don’t I will bring them over here. The boy reluctantly agrees and they start arguing as you do when you share a hiding dome with someone. THEN we get to the next chapter and it’s set weeks before and like, Titus and Iolanthe are about to go back to Eton after the cray-cray events of last semester when they took on the Bane and he just regenerated. This time though, they are going to train and find the right information about how to defeat the Bane. So, pretty much The Perilous Sea alternates between no-memory Iolanthe and mystery boy and the events of seven or so weeks before at Eton. And oh my goodness, this book is just so captivating and fascinating and like impossible to set down. It is truly the definition of a JUST ONE MORE CHAPTER book.

Iolanthe is the best. No, really, she is. So if you came to this book hoping for more of her dressing like a boy to pass at Eton while she works with Titus to find a way to end the Bane once and for all YOU ARE IN LUCK. She’s doing the whole disguise thing again and she also is on the school’s cricket team, at least that’s what I think it is. She’s awesome and does a great job passing as a boy and has this swagger. Pretty much I love her. Speaking of which, so there’s the faint possibility that Iolanthe might not be the one that Titus was looking for, at least according to Titus’s mother’s vision diary. Yet, Iolanthe is all, hey we have free will not everything is fate, let’s be the master of our destiny. She demands respect and love and that Titus fight for her the way she would for him. I love that. I love that she says screw it to fate. Ideologically, she is my favorite sort of character because she’s so determined when it comes to her love and all that’s she’s worked for.

I keep thinking of Titus as The Perilous Sea’s romantic lead, when really he is actually a main character, not just the person Iolanthe is in love with. Titus serves as a contrast to Iolanthe. While she is all about blazing her own path and taking on the world, Titus is one for fate. He believes that has has to follow everything that his mother’s diary lays out for him and that the visions are one hundred percent set in stone. It’s interesting — especially seeing how Iolanthe tries to shift his vision. You get this very real sense from Titus and from Sherry Thomas’s writing that he cares deeply for Iolanthe and wants it to be her that takes on and saves the world, when in reality, he seems to be bound by fate. But, fate is a tricky thing, as you’ll see when you read this. Personally, though, I gelled with Iolanthe more than Titus. Don’t get me wrong, he is complex and his struggles are certainly interesting especially as he has to balance being Master of the Domain with being a school boy with training SOMEONE for a very great fate, but yeah, I liked Iolanthe more. What I will say though, is that he is totally worthy of all the kissing scenes and as a reader, I was more than happy with the swoons and the romantic agony that Sherry Thomas brought to the table in this book. Seriously, she was putting those romance writer skills to work and I could not be more appreciative.

Now, as for the villain of the story, THE BANE, yo, we learn way more about him in The Perilous Sea like his secret to living forever. We learn why it did not work in The Burning Sky. And well, the Bane makes more of an appearance in this book, he does not feel like some far off figure. The danger actually feels real. We actually have stakes and it’s legit and I love it. Actually I guess I do not have as much to say about the Bane as I thought. So, instead, let’s talk a little bit about Kashkari. He’s a side character and totally awesome. There’s more to Kashkari than we expect and he totally has this giant secret reveal and let’s just say he’s one of my favorite characters. Also also can I get a moment of praise for not whitewashing history. Like yay to Sherry Thomas for including non-white characters in her historical FANTASY book. For real, that’s awesome and for making Kashkari so interesting and multifaceted. I personally think that’s awesome and just goes to show, there’s no excuse for erasing people of color, NONE.

This aside, I want to end on a non praise rant note. I want to say that I rarely ever read 400 page books in one day. Heck, the book I am currently reading is 356 pages and I’ve been reading it for like a week now. I say that to illustrate the magic that is The Perilous Sea. Sherry Thomas wrote a book that I literally read late into the night and could not set down until I had finished it. I am so pleased with this book,I am so pleased with what I read. I am still totally shipping Iolanthe and Titus. I was nervous because you never know when it comes to second book syndrome, thank goodness those worries never came to fruition. Real talk, this book is one of my favorites this year and I look forward to the final book of what is one of my new favorite fantasy trilogies.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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